The mine action programme in Afghanistan employs about 150 mine detection dogs and is one of the two largest mine dog detection projects in the world. In June 2000, GICHD was asked by UNOCHA to help determine the capability and reliability of the dogs in Afghanistan in relation to the variety of mines found, their typical burial depth, and different soils and climates. Development of a licensing and accreditation programme was a second objective of the project. Since the dog's capabilities are dependent on the way they are trained, it is also desirable to know why some dogs have certain limitations. Only then will we be able to address potential faults in the training or the operational errors and thus make the use of dogs safer and more reliable.
The UN in Afghanistan believes that the best way of building confidence in mine dog detection is to ensure a process where all the dogs are screened through a simple confidence test before they are allowed to become operational. Increased confidence is vital for the MDC dog handlers and joint venture partners (other NGOs and the local population) but it is equally important to demonstrate professionalism and a high degree of reliability to donors and others that wish to support the programme.
An important element of the project is to investigate soil above the mines immediately after the dogs have been tested on them. This may help explain why the dogs sometimes miss mines, which will further enable correction to the training, and a better definition of the dog's potential and limitations. The Swedish defence Research Agency (FOI) and Sandia National Laboratories have been contracted for the chemical analysis of soil samples under this project.
Test fields were established in April 2002 and the first test was undertaken in October 2002. Five additional tests have been undertaken in 2003, the first in April. The detection results have been compared with observations and video filming of the dogs and handlers during the tests.
